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Story of a Former Heroin Addict Turned Millionaire Will Inspire You
Sometimes it only takes one thing to turn your whole life around. Just ask Khalil Rafati.
Rafati’s life was hanging on by a thread. After leaving his hometown to escape a past filled with sexual abuse, Rafati drove right to Los Angeles to start over. He began his own business detailing sports cars and found moderate success, servicing star clients like Jeff Bridges and Elizabeth Taylor. However, his life quickly took a turn for the worse once he began selling drugs for additional income.
Rafati found himself without a place to live and quickly began to sell more and more, including ecstasy and heroin. He quickly became hooked and almost intentionally overdosed during a party in 2001.
Luckily, the paramedics were able to save his life, but Rafati didn’t care much. The very next year, he almost died again after a robber shot him in his house while he was injecting drugs. He later ended up in jail in 2003, where he reached “the bottom of all bottoms.”
“There was no more digging left to do, all of my shovels were broken,” he said. “I was done.”
After his stint in jail, Rafati found a new addiction. However, this time it would turn his life around for the better.
While getting sober, Rafati became addicted to juices and superfoods and eventually started making his own health foods for the patients and staff at the Riviera Recovery Center.
“It was meant to rejuvenate and strengthen the patients,” he explained to the New York Times. “And give them some much-needed strength”
News of this health craze started to spread outside of the Riviera Recovery Center and before he knew it, Rafati was able to open his own store selling the juices and other products.
Rafati opened SunLife Organics with $50,000 he had saved in gold coins. The now-former drug addict has one simple mission for his store. He just wanted to “love, heal, and inspire.”
The store sells 32 different kids of juices, smoothies, protein shakes, and acai bowls. They also serve coffee, frozen yogurt, and sundaes. He only uses the finest ingredients including “Alkaline Water, Himalayan Pink Salt and Dandelion Greens,” according to Daily Mail.
Regular customers at the store include “Harry Styles, David Duchnovy and Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis,” shared Scoop Whoop.
HES SO WOW pic.twitter.com/KkjiGeaETJ
— jen (@hurrehstiles) April 25, 2015
His signature drink, which was created at the Riviera Recovery Center, is called the “Wolverine,” which includes a date and banana mixture.
Most of the employees at SunLife Organics are people with similar backgrounds to Rafati.
“Right from the start he was trying to better my life,” Cache Coelho, a former OxyCotin addict shared. “He pushes us very hard. In a father-like sense.”
Rafati is living proof that it is possible to turn your life around. To find out more about Rafati and his incredible story, check out his book, I Forgot To Die.